Like other educators throughout the state, Havens and Williams will find out Friday whether their districts' hopes become reality. That's when the Texas Education Agency is expected to release its accountability ratings, the annual evaluation of each of the 1,227 school districts in the state, including charter operators, and of the 7,956 campuses, also including charter schools.

"There is a little bit of nervousness but some anticipation, too, because you always hope that you're gonna do better than last year," Havens said.

TEA officials understand that.

"This is our biggest event of the year," TEA spokeswoman DeEtta Culbertson said of the accountability ratings. "This will tell the districts and their schools how well they are doing or what they need to do to improve."

The review also tells TEA and other state officials "what we need to do to improve the quality of education that Texas children get," Culbertson said. "So, this evaluation is not just for the school districts and their campuses. It's for everybody who cares about public education."

There are four ratings Texas school districts and campuses get: exemplary, recognized, academically acceptable and academically unacceptable. The main criteria for determining the ratings are the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test results, the completion rate and the dropout rate.

Moreover, the accountability ratings are part of TEA's Excellence Indicator System, which develops profiles of Texas public schools. And based on the agency's numbers, last year was a good year for the state's schools - 87 percent of the districts made adequate yearly progress, or AYP, under a federal evaluation created by the No Child Left Behind Act. And what was more encouraging for educators is that of the 7,956 campuses, 6,437, or 81 percent, exceeded AYP performance targets.

That explains why Amarillo, Lubbock and most school districts in West Texas showed improvement in 2006 compared to the previous year and why Havens and Williams are cautiously optimistic about Friday's report card.

In 2005, for example, Amarillo ISD had only five exemplary schools and 14 recognized, but the following year, the number of exemplary campuses went up to eight and the number of recognized to 30, according to TEA. Moreover, in 2005 the district had two academically unacceptable schools but none in 2006.

"We're meeting our goals," Williams said. "What we want to see is continuous improvement in every area. Everybody wants to do well and it shows."

As for Lubbock, the district had a more modest improvement, going from one exemplary school and 13 recognized in 2005 to three and 17 in 2006. However, the number of academically unacceptable schools remained unchanged at three in the 58-campus district.

High stakes

Havens, Williams and other educators also understand the impact accountability ratings have on teachers, students and the community as a whole.

"It's either a big morale booster or highly demoralizing," said Havens, whose district was once rated as recognized but now is seeing major academic improvements that give LISD officials hope that it could eventually rebound to recognized.

"That's why we all take these ratings very seriously," Havens said.

For the teachers and students, a good report card confirms they are working hard and, most important, that the kids are getting a good education, he said. In a word: pride.

"You have tremendous pride on those campuses," Havens said. "They take it personally."

And for a neighborhood and for the community as a whole, the pride of having an exemplary or recognized school translates into more demand for housing, higher property values and, in the long run, more property tax revenues.

"When businesses want to relocate to Lubbock, one of the main considerations is the schools," Havens said. "They want to make sure that this is a community where their employees can educate their children."

Havens, Williams and other educators agree with TEA officials that the accountability ratings are a useful tool because they show the strengths and weaknesses of a district or a campus.

"The ratings are very important," said AISD's communications director, Becky McIlraith. "It tells us, or, the campuses, what they need to work on." And "we've got areas we need to improve," Williams said.

Minor criticism

However, not everyone is entirely pleased with the accountability ratings.

The system is needed because the school districts and campuses need some kind of accountability, but the problem with the current system is that it relies too much on the TAKS test, said Rob D'Amico, spokesman for the Texas American Federation of Teachers, which until recently called itself the Texas Federation of Teachers.

"We need to put the authority for testing back in the teachers," D'Amico said. "What you hear over and over again is that they are fed up. They think there's too much emphasis on the testing. The system needs to be reformed."

In the just concluded legislative session, the Legislature overwhelmingly approved a bill that will replace the TAKS test with end-of-course exams in core subjects such as English, math, science and social sciences. Gov. Rick Perry signed the bill into law, but the TAKS replacement won't occur until the 2011-12 academic year.

Also, the end-of-course exams will be for high schools only. Starting in the third grade, elementary and middle school students will have to take the TAKS test, at least until the Legislature decides otherwise. That means that, at least in the foreseeable future, TEA will still have to rely on the test results to rate the elementary and middle schools.

And as long as TEA relies on the TAKS test for its accountability ratings, "the potential is there for not adequately measuring how well or how poor a school district or a school is performing," D'Amico said.